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Well there was a time when Maori were stopped by others from speaking and using their own language, and I guess nowadays they've had to bootstrap Maori language
by tigerlily 2y ago
Well there was a time when Maori were stopped by others from speaking and using their own language, and I guess nowadays they've had to bootstrap Maori language starting with full immersion Maori language schooling from childhood. There's a couple of generations of Maori between post WWII and late Gen X who weren't bought up in the Maori language and have had to go to great lengths to reclaim it, but most haven't been able to at all. Maori culture isn't just about the language, there's the meaning and context of the language, as well as cultural aspects of place (whenua, turangawaewae) and ancestral connection (whanau, whakapapa). You can't divide or separate these things, and the language is not a thing floating around in isolation from the culture.
It holds true for every culture. Even the English will tell you english is a language and kindly don't bastardise it. That is to say there's a whole culture around the English language and its proper usage.
Look at these artefacts the community was admiring just yesterday https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41536156 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41536156
We know jack all about the people who created these, and most of it was lost. Three comments in the whole thread, we know humanity fucked up because we don't know what to say, and so we keep making the same mistake over and over and over
- postexitus 2y agoDespite that, the whole world is using English every day in a quite bastardising way.
- corimaith 2y agoI'd argue that's the real dominance of Western culture; anybody can be part of it, bastardize it, idealize it, demonize it, and so it can evolve, it transcends from just a singular tradition to a universal culture.
- brendoelfrendo 2y agoPart of colonialism is replacing native cultures with your own. Indigenous cultures, conversely, fight for survival in the face of forces that seek to exploit or exterminate them. There's a marked difference in context between the post-colonial world speaking English and the Maori people trying to defend part of their cultural heritage.